Musical instrument



June 13, 1950 H. M. STEPHENSON MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Dec. 5, 1947DRAWIB ICfIEfIFIG IAIB ICHE IFIGMQl Iventor Hugh M. Stephenson, b MK yAttor n ey.

Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTHugh M. Stephenson, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Application December 8, 1947, Serial No. 789,389

.22 Claims. 1

My invention relates to musical instruments and particularly to animproved arrangement of tone-producing elements for facilitating theplaying of musical compositions in the diatonic scale in any key in thechromatic octave.

Musical instruments particularly of the type utilizin reeds, such asharmonicas, have generall been provided with tone-producing elementsarranged in an unsymmetrical order which pro- Vides an adequate numberof tones for the playing of simple melodies in one key only but whichrequires the substitution of certain notes for others if a melodyincludes tones other than those of the diatonic scale of the one key ofthe instrument. In certain instruments, substantially all the tones of adiatonic octave may be provided for specific keys. Some instruments,such as harmonicas, have been made with slides to enable ready playingof melodies in difierent keys, usually only two keys, by the propermanipulation of the slides, but such instruments are not adapted for usein playing melodies in all keys as it would become too complicated toprovide an adequate number of slides and an adequate number of sets'ofreeds for readily playing in all keys. Consequently, to play in otherthan the two keys as set up in present valved chromatic harmonicasrequires a tremendous mental efiort and hours of practice to memorize asingle melody.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved musical instrumentadapted to be played in any key of the chromatic octave and to produceall of the tones of the diatonic or chromatic scale in any of the twelvekeys without the necessity of making any adjustment to the instrumentwhen shifting from one key to the other by having all of the reedsarranged exposed at all times in playable relation to the instrument infixed reed-playing air passages.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved reed typemusical instrument which can be played to provide a complete diatonicscale rendition in any key of the chromatic octave.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved whole tonechromatic scale musical instrument.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improvedharmonica.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent andmy invention will be better understood from the following descriptionreferring to the accompanying drawing, and the features of novelty whichcharacterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in 2the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of amusical instrument incorporating an embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2is a set of diagrams illustrating the arrangement of tones obtainable ina musical instrument incorporating my invention; Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of another musical instrument including another embodiment of myinvention; Fig. 4 illustrates another type harmonica provided with afurther embodiment of my invention; Fig. 5 is another musical instrumentembodying a further modification of my invention; and Fig. 6 is anenlarged exploded view of a part of the harmonica shown in Fig. 5showing the detail of the reed plate mounting.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown in Fig. 1 an embodiment of myimproved whole tone chromatic scale musical instrument as applied to aharmonica for producing all of the tones for two octaves of the diatonicscale in any key of the chromatic octave. In this instrument, twelvereed cells I are provided, in each of which a blow reed 2 and a drawreed 3 are arranged. These reeds are respectively mounted over suitableconventional type apertures in reed plates 4 and 5 which form cell wallssupported in a reed plate spacer block 6 mounted within a supportinghousing on tone chamber 1, and a mouthpiece 8 is arranged over the endof the reed cells to facilitate blowing and drawing of air through theapertures and over the various reeds of the instrument which are thusarranged in fixed reedplaying air passages formed by the openings in themouthpiece 8, the reed cells, and the apertures in the cell walls.

If desired, the various reed cells may be identified by numerals appliedon the instrument adjacent the mouthpiece opening to the reed cells asshown at 9. With such a construction, the two reeds in each reed cellenable the playing of two tones from each cell and provide a compactarrangement of tone-producing reed elements.

The full chromatic scale includes twelve difierent tones and in order toproduce a diatonic scale in any key, it is necessary that the musicalinstrument be able to produce various tones or notes successively spaceda predetermined difference in pitch according to a basic arrangement ofnotes or tones, which constitute the diatonic scale in that key. Thisbasic relative arrangement of tones is the same for all keys andincludes a spacing or interval in the pitch between adjacent tones of awhole tone between the first 'jacen-t blow reeds.

three notes of the octave, a half-tone spacing 0r interval in pitchbetween the third and fourth tones of the octave, a whole tone spacingor interval in pitch between the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh tonesof the octave, and a half tone spacing or interval in pitch between theseventh and eighth tones of the octave. In order to obtain thesediatonic scales in all keys, it is necessary that each tone of thechromatic scale include the various basic tones of the scale as well asthe sharps and flats of these tones. Most musical compositions ormelodies may be played over a range of two octaves of notes or tones,and, in written music, these are represented by the notes on the linesand spaces of a written composition.

Fig. 2 diagrammatically illustrates the rela tionship of thearrangements of the reeds in a twelve cell twenty-four tone chromaticscale harmonica, such as that shown in Fig. 1, and the various notes ortones of the chromatic scale. In this diagram, the blow reeds areindicated by the numerals I through I2 and the draw reeds by thenumerals I through 12'. The notes or tones to which the various blow anddraw reeds are tuned are indicated by the various reference letters inthe squares of this figure. As shown by the notes on the chromaticscale, the blow reed No. I forms the note Al; or Bb. Linearly successiveblow reeds are tuned to successive tones spaced a whole tone interval inpitch from ad- The draw reed No. i may be tuned to half tone higher orlower than the blow reed No. l, and in the preferred and illustratedexample, the draw reed No. l is shown as tuned a half tone higher thanthe blow reed No. I. Thus, the draw reed No. l is tuned to the tonewhich is represented by the note B or Cb. All of the successive drawreeds are tuned a whole tone interval or spacing successively fromadjacent draw reeds, such that each draw reed is spaced a half toneinterval in pitch from an adjacent blow reed. This provides all of thetones and half tones for two full octaves, including all sharps andflats or all notes within these two octaves when twelve blow reeds andtwelve draw reeds are provided. The blow and draw reed numberscorresponding to the various tones of the chromatic scale are shownadjacent the notes as writ-' ten in Fig. 2. i

' In a harmonica construction such as thatshown in Fig. l, the blow reedNo. I and the draw reed No. I' would be arranged to be played from thefirst reed cell which is designated by the reference numeral No.1 on themouthpiece 8. Similarly, the other blow and draw reeds are adapted to beplayed by blowing and drawing into the other corresponding mouthpieceopenings as designated by the numerals 9 on the mouthpiece 8. With suchan arrangement, a player may play in any key of the chromatic scale byutilizing a common symmetrical pattern in blowing and drawing on theharmonica reeds. This pattern follows the basic pattern which isutilized for all diatonic scales and includes the above-described spaceintervals in pitch between the various tones of the octave; that is,each octave includes six whole tone intervals between the first andeighth tones of the octave with a half tone interval between the thirdand fourth tones and a half tone interval between the seventh and eighthtones of the octave. Where the base note of a key corresponds to a blowreed, a player will blow the first three tones of the ascending octaveand then shift to an adjacent draw reed which a will be spaced a halftone interval in pitch froni the third blow reed, care being taken todraw on the adjacent draw reed which is a half tone in pitch higher thanthe blow reed for the third note; and then the fifth, sixth, and seventhtones of the octave may be obtained by drawing on successive draw reedsand the eighth or final tone of the octave may be obtained by blowing ona blow reed adjacent the seventh draw reed, care being taken to blow thereed which is a half tone higher in pitch than the draw reed for theseventh note. Thus, a full diatonic scale may be obtained in any key inwhich the initial tone is a blow reed by following the above-describedsimple pattern, and any musical composition may readily be playedwithout requiring the use of any mechanical shifting of slides, reeds,or other mechanical parts of the instrument by inherently following thebasic diatonic scale pattern. Similarly, any ascending diatonic scalemay be played in any key which begins with anote which is a draw reed bydrawing successively on three draw reeds beginning with the basic toneof the key and then blowing on an adjacent blow reed which is a halftone higher in pitch than the third tone draw reed and then blowingsuccessively on the next linearly successive three blow reeds anddrawing on a draw reed adjacent the seventh tone to provide the eighthtone of the octave which is a half tone higher in pitch than the lastblown blow reed. In this manner, any diatonic scale which begins with akey note which is a draw reed may be played on my improved musicalinstrument without shifting any mechanical slides or other mechanicalparts by simple playing the instrument according to the basic pattern ofthe diatonic scale. Any descending scale may be played by reversingthese ascending patterns.

Thus, by learning a simple basic pattern for the musical instrument tobe played and by having all of the reeds arranged continuously exposedin fixed reed-playing air passages, it is possible to obtain a propermusical rendition of any musical composition in any desired key of thechromatic scale without any substitutions of tones and without anymechanical shifting of parts of the instrument. The blow reeds and drawreeds may be considered as each being arranged in two ranks of tones,each spaced a whole tone interval in pitch between adjacent tones withineach rank, and the musical instrument may be arranged such that the drawreeds are each a half tone higher or a half tone lower than the adjacentblow reeds. It is immaterial whether the half tone difference in pitchbetween adjacent blow and draw reeds be such that theblow reeds are halftone higher or a half tone lower than the draw reeds, as the basicplaying pattern will be the same as the diatonic scale patterns asdescribed above, although the particular reed cells which may be blownor drawn to obtain this pattern may vary accordingto whether the drawreeds are a half tone higher or a half tone lower than the blow reeds.

Since there is'a natural tendency to raise when drawing or inhaling anda natural tendency to lower the head when blowing, I prefer to have thedraw reeds a half tone higher than its adjacent blow reed. Theconstruction shown in Fig. 1 may be provided with a successivearrangement of blow and draw reeds corresponding to the tones shown inFig. 2, thus providing a linearly symmetrical succession of reeds forproducing all of the tones of the two chromatic oct'aves within therange of this instrument in which each octave includes six tones onwhole tone intervals in pitch between adjacent blow reeds and acorresponding arrangement of draw reeds with the tones of the blow reedsdisplaced in pitch a half tone interval from the tones of the adjacentdraw reeds. This desirable symmetrical whole tone interval in pitchbetween adjacent blow reeds and between adjacent draw reeds with thehalf tone pitch interval between adjacent blow and draw reeds provides adesirable linear arrangement of the two ranks of reeds in thisinstrument and forms a simple construction which enables the correctrendition of musical compositions in any key of the chromatic scale. Thephysical embodiment of the musical instrument which provides this simpleplaying arrangement for the correct rendition of various musicalcompositions without omissions or substitutions of notes may takevarious forms, of which that shown in Fig. l is illustrative. With suchconstructions, a chromatic glissando can easily be played by alternately.blowing and drawing progressively on successive reed cells.

Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment of a twelve reed cell harmonicawhich embodies the basic whole tone chromatic scale arrangement forproducing any diatonic scale in any key of the chromatic scale accordingto the above general description. In this construction, twelve reedcells iii are formed in a reed plate spacer H by a plurality of fingers[2 formed integrally as parts of the reed plate spacer member. Theharmonica shown in this. figure may readily be made as a completeplastic musical instrument in which the spacer member II is formed of asuitable plastic material, and a pair of reed plates l3 and M of plasticmaterial are arranged one on each side of the reed spacer II and areformed integrally with twelve reeds in each reed plate. These plasticreeds may be formed as blow reeds l5 over apertures in reed plate I3 anddraw reeds l6 over apertures in reed plate [4. The reed plates l3 and Mare secured in position between the reed plate spacer member H andcovers or tone chamber walls I! by projections l8 which extend from eachside of each reed plate adjacent the ends thereof into complementaryopenings in the reed plate spacer member II and the covers [1. Theseprojections may be hot-pressed to assure secure mounting of the reedplate and covers on the reed plate spacer member. As in the arrangementshown in Fig. 1, the draw reeds [6 in the reed plate [4 are spaced awhole tone interval in pitch between adjacent reeds and the blow reeds[5 in the reed plate 13 are similarly spaced a whole tone intervalbetween adjacent blow reeds, with the draw reeds spaced a half toneinterval from the adjacent blow reeds. With this arrangement, the reedplate 13 forms one rank of linearly arranged blow reeds and the reedplate [4- forms another rank of linearly arranged draw reeds, eachformed and arranged with a whole chromatic interval in pitch betweenadjacent reeds in each rank with the reeds in one rank displaced a halftone in pitch from adjacent reeds of the other rank. This harmonica maybe played in the same manner as that shown in Fig. 1 with the samedesirable results.

Fig. 4 illustrates a further embodiment of a musical instrumentincluding my improved arrangement of elements for producing the tones ofthe diatonic scale in any key of the chromatic octave without the use ofany mechanical shifting bars, slides, or other elements. In this con-'struction, the blow and draw reeds may be ar ranged in the same manneras that shown in Fig. 3 and may be made integral with the reed plates ormay include separate reeds suitably secured in position over openings orapertures in reed plates [9 and 20. In this construction, the reedplates are arranged such that each of the blow reeds is provided with anindividual reed cell 21 and each of the draw reeds 22 is provided withan individual reed cell 23 formed in a reed plate spacer block 24. Sucha construction has the advantage of minimizing the bypassing of airthrough the blow or draw reed in the cell when such blow or draw reed isnot being utilized to produce a tone. In the construction shown in thisfigure, the harmonica is provided with only ten reed cells for each reedplate. This is a conventional harmonica construction but does notprovide two complete octaves. However, the tones or notes at either endof the two full octaves described with reference to Fig. 2 may beomitted and all of the succeeding tones or notes from the first tone inthe first reed cell to the tenth reed cell are successively formed andarranged a whole tone interval from the adjacent reed in the linearprogressive adjacent reed cell. The blow reeds form one rank of tonesand the draw reeds form another rank of tones with the reeds of one rankdisplaced a half tone in pitch from adjacent reeds in the other rank. Achromatic glissando may also be played by alternately blowing anddrawing on transversely adjacent blow and draw reeds and progressivelytraversing ll of the linearly arranged reed cells from one end of theinstrument to the other. In this construction a tone chamber is formedon the outside of each reed plate by a cover 25; and the two covers 25,the reed plates l9 and 20, and the reed plate spacer block are securedtogether in any suitable manner, as by a rivet 26 extending through eachend of the instrument.

Fig. 5 illustrates a still further embodiment of my improved musicalinstrument in which twelve reed cells 2'1 are provided in a reed platespacer block 28 for twelve blow reeds and twelve reed cells 29 areprovided for twelve draw reeds 39, each forming a separate rank of tonesdisplaced a whole tone interval in pitch between adjacent reeds of eachrank. In this arrangement, the reeds of one rank are displaced a halftone in pitch from the reeds of the adjacent rank. This construction issimilar to that shown in Fig. 4 in that each draw reed and each blowreed is provided with an individual reed cell, but the reed cells of thetwo ranks of reeds are linearly arranged with the transverse centersthereof substantially midway between the transverse centers of the reedcells of the other rank. These staggered reed cells are formed by walls3| and 32 which extend from a longitudinally extending central wall 33of the reed spacer block member 28, on each side of which the reedplates are mounted in slide grooves 34, shown in detail in Fig. 6, toprovide the desired arrangement of blow and draw reeds in the respectivereed cells. A suitable cover or tone chamber wall 35 is arranged on eachside of the reed plates and is secured in position by hooking an edge 36thereof over the ends of the reed plates at the mouthpiece edge of theharmonica and snapping inturned tabs 37 over the other edge of the reedplate spacer block 28. In the construction shown in this figure, achromatic glissando may be played by progressively alternately blowingand drawing the harmonica and rolling it as it is moved linearly acrossthe lips oi" the player, thus assuring a correct progressivechange inthe tones of the glissando.

All of thesemusical instrumentsare physically arranged to facilitatetheplaying of many beautiful combinations of chords and tones. Theprovision of the two-adjacent ranks of tones on whole tone intervals inpitch between linearly adjacent tones in each rank, with the tones inone rank displaced in pitch one-half tone interval .from theadjacenttone of the other rank, increases the possibility of simple tonalcombinations to provide many desirable tone groups. These tones areobtained in the illustrated harmonicas by playing the vblow and draw.reeds of the instruments, which are illustrative of the basic tonalconcept of this invention. In each case, the following combinations arereadily obtainable by reason of the arrangements described in whichthetones of the reedsin each ranklinearly progress from the lowest tothe highest pitch from one end .to the other of the instrument. Bysimultaneously playing three tones or reeds of .any set offourlinearly-adjacent tones orreeds Whenblocking so :as not tosound thepenultimate highest pitch tone or reed of the set, a seventh chord isproduced, and when blocking so .as .not to sound the penultimate lowestpitch tone or reed of the set, a ninth chord of a major key is produced.lhe symmetrical arrangement of the tones or reeds is such that in anyset of four linearly adjacent reedsthe two lowest pitch reeds and thehighest .aDitCh reed of the set have the tones of a seventh chord andthe two highest pitch reeds and the lowest pitch reed of the set havethe tones of aninth chord of amajor key, and enables the provision of afull succession of direct and inverted seventh chords, ninth chords, andtwo-.note major groups.

In instruments such as the illustrated harmonicas, proper tonguing willenable a player to obtain these pleasing tonal groups. For example, byblowing a set of three reeds of the first four cells while blocking thethird cell gives a group comprising the tones Bb, C, E, which is a Cseventh chord. Drawing this sameposition gives a group comprising thetones B, Ct, P, which is .a Ct seventh chord. Shifting the harmonica onecell, and playing with the same tonguing so as ,to block. thepenultimate highest reed, the blowing position produces a groupcomprising the tones C, D, Ft, which is a D seventh chord, and thedrawing position produces a group comprising the tones Ct, Eb, G, whichis an Eb seventh chord. Similarly, the seventh chords for the wholechromatic scale may be played. The ninth chords can be played byblocking the penultimate lowest tone or cell of a four reed set andblowing or drawing the remaining three reeds. Thus, if the set includesthe first four cells, the tones blown will be Bb, D, E, which is a Cninth chord, and if this position is drawn, the tones will be B, Eb, F,which is aCt ninth chord.

Similarly, if five linearly adjacent tones or reeds are chosen as. a setand the second and third reeds are blocked, blowing of the firstposition on ,the instrument will produce a group comprising the notesBb, .E, Ft, and drawing this position will produce a group comprisingthe notes B, F, G, which are the inverted seventh chords of F and ,Ft.This also may be played for any key vfor the full chromatic scale.

The two-note major groups can be obtained by playing the first and lasttones or reeds of any setiot threelinearly adjacent tones .or reedswhile not sounding or blocking the middle tone or reed of the set. Forinstance, by playing cells I, 3, or 2, 4, or 3, 5, by blowing or drawingthereon, the first and third of a major triad will be sounded.Similarly, by not sounding or blocking the middle three tones or reedsof any set of five linearly adjacent tones or reeds and playing only thefirst and last tones or reeds of such sets, two notes of a major triadin the inverted order may be obtained. These first and last reeds of anyset of three or five linearly adjacent reeds are the tones of a two-notemajor group, including the third and first of such triads which may beconsidered the third and eighth in the diatonic scale. Thus, manypleasing tone groups can be played by the simple combinations.

These musical instruments preferably are formed with twelve sound noteor tone producing elements in each rank, as this enables the playing oftwo full octaves in any desired diatonic scale in any desired key.However, any of the instruments may be made with a larger or smallernumber of tonal reeds and reed cells for producing all the sequentialtones of all the diatonic scales within the range of the instrument, asin a twelve cell instrument. Furthermore, the particular manner ofmounting the tone producing elements and arranging these elements incombined or individual reed cells may be varied to provide certaindesirable improvements in the manufacture of the instruments or toobtain certain desired physical characteristics. The particularharmonica constructions shown in the drawings are used only toillustrate embodiments of the symmetrical linear tonal arrangements asapplicable to various types of harmonicas, and in Fig. 5, I have shownmy novel staggered arrangement of reed cells.

While I have illustrated and described particular embodiments of myinvention, modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art.I desire it to be understood, therefore, that my invention is not to belimited to the particular arrangements disclosed, and I intend in theappended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from thespirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

l. A harmonica having a plurality of reed cells in lineararrangementwith fixed reed-playing air passages, a blow reed and a draw reed ineach of said cells having adjacent tones of the chromatic scale, andsaid reeds being arranged in a symmetrical pattern, and arrangedcontinuously exposed in said fixed reed-playing air passages.

2. A musical instrument having reeds for producing musical notes formedand arranged for producing the twelve tones of the chromatic scale andarranged in two adjacent ranks with symmetrical whole tone intervals inpitch between adjacent reeds in each rank and a half tone interval inpitch between the reeds in one rank and the adjacent reeds in the otherrank, and all of said reeds being arranged continuously exposed inplayable relation.

3. A musical instrument embodying a whole tone arrangement of thechromatic scale in two ranksof sound note-producing elements arranged ina symmetrical succession for each successive chromatic octave, saidelements of one rank having a pitch one-half tone difierent from thenotes of the adjacent elements of the other rank, air passagesin saidinstrument, and all of said noteproducing elements being arranged at alltimes exposed in said air passages.

4. A musical instrument having a plurality of blow reeds formed andarranged in one rank of adjacent successive whole tones of the chromaticscale and a plurality of draw reeds formed and arranged in a second rankof adjacent successive whole tones of the chromatic scale, the tones ofsaid one rank being displaced one-half tone from the pitch of adjacentreeds of said second rank, fixed reed-playing air passages, and all ofsaid reeds being arranged in said fixed reed-playing air passages.

5. A harmonic embodying a whole tone arrangement of the chromatic scalein two adjacent linear ranks of tone-producing elements arranged in asymmetrical succession for each successive chromatic octave, saidelements of one rank having a pitch one-half tone different from thenotes of the adjacent elements of the other rank, fixed air passages forplaying said tone-producing elements, and all of said tone-producingelements being arranged continuously exposed in said fixed air passages.

6. A musical instrument embodying a linear,

succession of means for producing all the tones of each chromatic octavewithin the range of the instrument, said means comprising two adjacentranks of six tones each on whole tone intervals in pitch betweenadjacent tones in each rank, the tones of one rank being displaced inpitch onehalf tone interval from the adjacent tones of the other rank,fixed air passages for playing said tone-producing means, and all ofsaid tone-producing means being arranged in said fixed air passages.

7. A musical instrument of the reed type embodying an arrangement ofreeds for producing the twelve tones of at least one chromatic octave,said reeds being arranged in two adjacent ranks of six successive toneseach with a symmetrical whole tone interval in pitch between adjacentreeds in each rank and with a half tone interval in pitch between thereeds of one rank and the adjacent reeds of the other rank. reed-playingair passages in said instrument, and all of said reeds being arrangedexposed in said reed-playing air passages.

8. A musical instrument embodying a linear succession of means includingreeds for producing all the sequential tones of all the diatonic scaleswithin the range of the instrument, said reeds being arranged in twoadjacent ranks on whole tone intervals in pitch between adjacent reedsin each rank, the reeds of one rank being displaced 1;

in pitch one-half tone interval from the adjacent reeds of the otherrank, reed-playing air passages in said instrument, and all of saidreeds being arranged exposed in said reed-playing air passages.

9. A harmonica having blow and draw reeds embodying an arrangement ofsuccessive reeds for producing successive whole tones of the chromaticscale. said reeds being arranged in two adjacent ranks with said blowreeds forming one rank and said draw reeds forming the other rank andwith a symmetrical Whole tone interval in pitch between adjacent reedsin each rank and with a half tone interval in pitch between the reeds ofone rank: and the adjacent reeds of the the other rank, and all of saidreeds being arranged continuously exposed in playable relation.

10. A musical instrument embodying a linear symmetrical succession ofmeans including blow and draw reeds for producing all the tones of eachchromatic octave within the range of the instrument, said reeds beingarranged in two adjacent ranks with all blow reeds in one rank and alldraw reeds in the other rank on whole tone intervals in pitch betweenadjacent reeds in each rank, the reeds of one rank being displaced inpitch onehalf tone interval from the adjacent reeds of the other rank,reed-playing air passages in said instrument, and all of said reedsbeing arranged exposed in said reed-playing air passages.

11. A harmonica having a plurality of linearly arranged reed cells, atonal blow reed and a tonal draw reed arranged in each of said reedcells, said blow reeds being arranged in a symmetrical whole tonespacing, said draw reeds being arranged in a symmetrical whole tonespacing, the pitch of the tone of said blow reed in each reed cell beingonehalf tone different from the pitch of the tone of said draw reed inthe same reed cell, and all of said reeds being arranged exposed inplayable relation such that alternate blowing and drawing progressivelyon each successive reed cell produces a chromatic glissando.

12. A harmonica having two adjacent ranks of linearly symmetricallyspaced reel cells, blow reeds in said reed cells of one of said ranks,said blow reeds being linearly successively formed and arranged a wholetone interval in pitch between adjacent blow reeds, draw reeds in saidreed cells of the other of said ranks, said draw reeds being linearlysuccessively formed and arranged a whole tone interval in pitch betweenadjacent draw reeds, the reeds in one rank being displaced onehalf tonein pitch from adjacent reeds of the other rank, and all of said reedsbeing arranged exposed in playable relation.

13. A musical instrument having reed cells, two plates each having atonal reed arranged in each of said reed cells, one of said plateshaving blow reeds in a symmetrical whole tone spacing, the other of saidplates having draw reeds in symmetrical whole tone spacing, the pitch ofthe tone in the first reed cell of one plate being one-half tonedifferent from the pitch of the tone in the first reed cell of the otherplate, and all of said reeds being arranged exposed continuously inplayable relation such that alternate blowing and drawing progressivelyof each successive reed cell produces a chromatic glissando,

14. A harmonica having two adjacent ranks of linearly symmetricallyspaced reed cells, the reed cells of each of said ranks being linearlyarranged with the transverse centers thereof substantially midwaybetween the transverse centers of the reed cells of the other rank, blowreeds in said reed cells of one of said ranks, said blow reeds beinglinearly successively formed and arranged a whole tone interval in pitchbetween adjacent blow reeds, draw reeds in said reed cells of the otherof said ranks, said draw reeds being linearly successively formed andarranged a whole tone interval in pitch between adjacent draw reeds, thereeds in one rank being displaced one-half tone in pitch from adjacentreeds of the other rank, and all of said reeds being arranged exposedcontinuously in playable relation.

15. A musical instrument embodying a linear symmetrical succession ofmeans including blow and draw reeds for producing all the tones of eachchromatic octave within the range of the instrument, said reeds beingarranged in two adjacent ranks with all blow reeds in one rank and alldraw reeds in the other rank, the reeds of one rank being displaced inpitch one-half tone interval from the adjacent reeds of the other rank,and the reeds in each rank being arranged progressively from lowest tohighest pitch fromone end to the other of the instrument and spaced inpitch such that in any set of four linearly-adjacent reeds the twolowest pitch reeds and the highest pitch reed of the set have the tonalspacing of a seventh chord and the two highest pitch reeds and thelowest pitch need of the set have the tonal spacing of a ninth chord,and all of said reeds being arranged exposed at all times in playablerelation.

16. A musical instrument embodying a linear symmetrical succession ofmeans including blow and draw reeds for producing all the tones of eachchromatic octave within the range of the instrument, said reeds'beingarranged in two adjacent ranks with all blow reeds in one rank and alldraw reeds in the other rank, the reeds of one rank being displaced inpitch one-half tone interval from the adjacent reeds of the other rank,and the reeds in each rank being arranged progressively from lowest tohighest pitch from one end to the other of the instrument and spaced inpitch such that the first and last reeds of any set of three linearlyadjacent reeds have the tones of'a two-note major group including thefirst and third of a major triad, and all of said reeds being arrangedexposed at all times in playable relation.

17'. A musical instrument embodying a linear symmetrical succession ofmeans including'blow and draw reeds for producing all the tones of eachchromatic octave within the range'of the instrument, said reeds beingarranged in two adjacent ranks with all blow reeds in one rank and alldraw reeds in the other rank, the reeds of one rank being displaced inpitch one-half tone' interval from the adjacent reeds of the other rank,the reeds in eachrank being arranged progressively from lowest tohighest pitch from one end to'the other of the instrument and spaced inpitch such that the first and last reeds of any set of five linearlyadjacent'reeds'have the tones the tones of each chromatic octave withinthe range of the instrument, said tone-producing means being arranged intwo adjacent ranks with the tone-producingmeans of one rankbeingdisplaced in pitch one-half tone-interval from the adjacent tone-producing means of the other rank, and the tone-producing means in each rankbeing arranged progressively from lowest to highest pitch from one endto the other of the instrument and spacedin pitch such that in any setof four linearly adjacent tone-producing means the two lowest pitchtone-producing means and the highest pitch tone-producing means oftheset have the tonal spacing of a seventh chord and the two highestpitch tone-producing means and the lowest pitch tone-producingmeans ofthe set 12 have the tonal spacing of a ninth chord, and all of saidtone-producing means being arranged exposed at all times'in playable"relation.

19. A harmonica having walls forming a plurality of reed cells in lineararrangement, apertures in certain of' said cell walls forming fixedreed-playing air passages, and a blow reed and a draw reed in each ofsaid cells having adjacent tones ofthe chromatic scale, said reeds beingarranged with a symmetrical pattern of a wholetone interval in pitchbetween adjacent blow reeds and also between adjacent draw reeds and ahalftone interval in pitch between adjacent blow and'draw reeds, all ofsaid reeds being arranged over said aperturesin said reed cells in saidfixed reed-playing air' passages.

20.' A harmonica havingwalls forming a plurality of reed cells,apertures in certain of said cell walls forming reed-playing airpassages, and a blow reed and adraw reed in each of said cells havingadjacent tones of the chromatic scale, said reeds-being'arrahged withasymmetrical pattern of a whole-tone interval in pitch between adjacentblow reeds and also between adjacent draw reeds'and a half-tone intervalin pitch'between adjacentblow' and draw reeds, all of said reeds beingarranged'exposed in'playable relation over said aperture at all times.

21. A musical instrument embodying a whole time arrangement of thechromatic scale in two ranks of sound note-producing elements arrangedin asymmetrical succession for each successive chromatic'octave, saidelements 'of' one rank having a pitch one-half tone difierent from thenotes of the adjacent elementsof the other rank, and all of saidnote-producing elements being arranged at all times exposed in playablecondition in said instrument.

22. A musical instrument embodyinga whole tone arrangement of thechromatic scale in two adjacent linear ranks of tone-producing elementsarranged in a symmetrical succession for each successive chromaticoctave, said elements of one rank having'a pitch one-half tone differentfrom the notes of the adjacent elements of the other rank, and all ofsaid tone-producing elements beingarrangedcontinuously exposed inplayable relation in said instrument.

HUGH M. STEPHENSON.

REFERENCES GITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,710,502 Glass Apr. 23, 1929 2,179,993Davies Nov. 14, 1939 2,276,501 Manieri Mar. 17, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 169,271 Germany Mar. 28, 1906

